Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxy
The bright streak of glowing gas and stars in this Hubble Space Telescope image is known as PGC 51017, or SBSG 1415+437. It is type of galaxy known as a blue compact are an area of ongoing research for astronomers -- short-lived and intense periods of star formation, during which huge amounts of gas within a galaxy are hungrily used up to form newborn stars. They have been seen in gas-rich disc galaxies, and in some lower-mass dwarfs. However, it is still unclear whether all dwarf galaxies experience starbursts as part of their evolution. It is possible that dwarf galaxies undergo a star formation cycle, with bursts occurring repeatedly over time. SBS 1415+437 is an interesting target for another reason. Dwarf galaxies like this are thought to have formed early in the Universe, producing some of the very first stars before merging together to create more massive galaxies. Dwarf galaxies which contain very few of the heavier elements formed from having several generations of stars, like SBS 1415+437, remain some of the best places to study star-forming processes similar to those thought to occur in the early Universe. However, it seems that our nearby patch of the Universe may not contain any galaxies that are currently undergoing their first burst of star formation.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: astronomical, astronomy, blue, body, celestial, compact, cosmology, deep, dust, dwarf, early, galactic, galaxy, gas, heavenly, interstellar, object, radiation, science, sky, space, star, universe
